What can explain the fact that Donald Trump – a criminal’s criminal – walks around a free man after all the crimes he’s committed? America is built on “innocent until proven guilty” – but only in theory. Rich, white men certainly get the benefit of every conceivable doubt when it comes to assessing their innocence or guilt. That’s because our legal system costs a bomb. Only rich guys can navigate it. But then, rich guys designed it and built it and, up until recently, staffed it almost exclusively. Why, it’s like rich, white guys baked advantages – for them – into our republic’s architecture! Imagine! Unfairness isn’t an illusion, it’s the emperor’s nakedness staring us in the face! In America, rich white guys have an actual “margin of error” the rest of us don’t. It’s why Trump could declare his 2024 candidacy.
If anyone has benefited from the white man’s margin of error, it’s Donald J Trump.
Even when the news media faithfully reports Trump’s crimes, they refuse to think of them as crimes. Okay, fair enough. The press is there to report, not judge. But, how do you report a crime scene where the evidence – copious and rock solid – leaves zero doubt? Is it really “journalism” when you repeat a liar’s lies because “that’s what he said”? If you point out – up top – that the lie’s a lie? At least you framed the lie as a lie. But, if you wait until later in your reporting to drop that detail?
You’ve normalized the lie. It wasn’t a headline. And, the fact that it wasn’t, means you’ve already decided that you are the arbiter of what lies matter and what lies don’t. That isn’t neutrality. It’s self-serving bullshit that passes as journalism here in America.
Trump always had the American news media in his pocket. They didn’t have to want to be there (though much of the media still does want to be there). Trump understood that he and they had a lot in common. They love horse races because they’re easy to cover. Winners v losers.
Alas, our news media has all the insight into elections that a race track tout has on who’ll win the ninth.
In America, white people get away with far more than Black people do. White men get away with more than do white women. Rich white men get away with more than poor white men. Welcome to the top of the food chain.
And, welcome to absolute corruption, too – and to the rich white guy’s “margin of error”.
2 responses to “In America, Rich White Guys Have A “Margin Of Error””
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